Wedding Ring
by Errand Girl
Summary: It is Kallain's Wedding Day, but things are about to take a turn for the worse. Tabris/Zevran. I don't own Dragon Age.


"Wake up cousin." Said the red haired elf by Kallain's bed.

Kallain groaned in annoyance and she sat up in bed. "Five more minutes..."

"Come on cousin, get your lazy arse up. You know what today is, don't you?"

"Midsummer?" Kallain answered groggily as she tried to wake up.

The red head rolled her eyes. "No stupid, it's your wedding. You and Soris, getting married today, ring a bell?"

Kallain groaned and flopped back into bed, pulling the covers over her head and holding them there. The red head frowned.

"Now what kind of a reaction is that?"

"I don't want to get married Shianni!" Kallain whined, "Especially not to someone I've never even met!"

"Oh, come on. Weddings are wonderful."

"You only want in for the alcohol."

"Now that's unfair." Shianni retorted.

"I bet father hasn't even told him."

"What?"

"My fiancé. I bet father hasn't even told him about the sword and knife training mother gave me." Shianni could hear the hurt in her cousin's voice.

"Hey, come on. You know he means well."

"It's like he's ashamed of me Shianni. Of mother. Like he wants to marry me off to someone that will make the perfect woman out of me." Kallain sighed. "If, and when I get married, I want it to be to someone that knows me, and accepts me for who I am."

"Nelaros could be that someone. You just need to give him a chance."

Kalain sighed, sitting up and letting the cover fall off her head. "I guess he's getting forced into this too, huh?"

Shianni smiled reassuringly at her cousin. "You better get ready." She pointed to the foot locker by Kallain's bed. "Your dress is in there."

Shianni left, allowing Kallain to get changed into her wedding dress. Kallain changed and looked in the mirror. Her dress was pure white, naturally, with bell cut sleeves, it was long, but not long enough to drag through the dirt and grime of the alianage. Kallain looked at the small portrait on the night stand by her bed.

"If you were here, you'd never let this happen to me."

She walked out her of room into the living and dining area. She was greeted by her farther who smiled at the sight of his daughter in her wedding gown.

"Ah, my little girl… this'll be the last day I can call you that actually. Your mother would have been so proud."

'I wouldn't bet on it…' Kallain thought. "I wish she was here."

"I miss her too sweet heart." Her father said gently. "But I'm sure she'll be watching over you today. Now go and find Soris. The sooner this wedding starts the less chance the two of you have to escape."

"A small chance is still a chance." Kallain muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"I said I can't believe Soris wouldn't even give his bride to be a chance."

"Ah, he's still unsure about the whole thing. Which reminds me. Kally, about the training your mother gave you, the knife work and sword play. Best not to mention it to your betrothed."

'I knew it…' Kallain thought bitterly. "He's going to find out sooner or later father."

"Maybe, but that didn't make it easy to find you a husband. We don't want to look like trouble makers. That's where Adaia went wrong. And speaking of which, I have something for you." He rummaged in a chest, and pulled out a pair of beautiful boots. "Your mother made these for your wedding day, before she died."

He handed the boots to his daughter. Kallain sniffed. The leather was Antivan, her mother's country of birth. Kallain had always been fascinated with her mother's stories of Antiva. A tear slipped down her face as the smell of the boots brought back memories of her mother, in particular the way she sang to her when she was ill and would hold her close. She held the boots close to her chest for a moment, as if she could give her mother one final hug before she wed, by holding them. Then she leaned down slightly and pulled the boots onto her feet. They were a perfect fit.

Kalain's Father smiled and shooed her outside. "Now go find Soris."

Kallain walked outside and spotted Soris attempting to hide by Alarith's shop. She shook her head with a sigh. He was terrible at hiding. She quietly crept up to him so as he couldn't hear her. Just as she was in arm's reach of him she said: "Morning Soris". Soris nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the elf behind him and spun around.

He sighed with relief. "Oh, it's just you Cousin. When are you going to stop doing that?"

Kallain grinned evilly. "When I stop dreaming of running away to Antiva, give up swordplay and stop tormenting the blighted human guards."

"In short, never." Soris sighed.

"See? You're learning, dear cousin."

Soris glared at her, than smirked. "So how's the blushing bride."

Kallain folded her arms and huffed. "I'm hardly a blushing bride." Then she sighed. "Is there still time to escape?"

"What do you have to worry about? Apparently your betrothed is a dream come true. Mine sounds like a dying mouse."

"Ha! At least your parent didn't hide any facts about you from your betrothed."

"…The Rogue training?"

"Yep. This is why I want to run away to Antiva."

Soris sighed. "Come on, let's introduce you to your dreamy betrothed be for you say 'I do'."

The two walked to the entrance of the Alianage. As they came to Shianni and Soris' house they Saw Shianni and two other elves waving at them in bride's maids dresses. Kallain smiled and was about to wave back when she spotted three humans behind them. They walked up to the three girls and the one on the left grabbed Shioki, who shouted in surprise, forced herself out of his grip and moved away quickly.

The middle one, a blond with a beard, grinned. "It's a party isn't it? Grab a whore and have a good time." He looked at Shianni. "Take this one here for instance, so young and venerable."

Shianni gave him a disgusted look. "Touch me and I'll gut you, you pig."

Soris looked and Kallain. "I know what you're thinking but maybe we shouldn't get involved."

Kallain didn't look away from the men. "Shianni's going to get herself killed at this rate."

"All right, all right. But let's try to be diplomatic here."

The blond spotted Kallain and grinned a sickening grin. "Look gentle man another pretty whore for the party."

Kallain's eyes narrowed and she gave the human her, dark 'if looks could kill you'd be dead and suffering in hell right now' glare. A shiver of slight fear went down the humans' spines. "You need to leave," Kallain said in an icy calm voice. "Now."

The blond drew himself up and looked down his nose at her. "You think you can order me? Do you know who I am?"

Kallain was about to respond when there was the sound of a crash, then the human fell to the ground completely knocked out. Standing behind him with a broken bottle in her hand, was Shianni. Kallain raised an eyebrow and gave Shianni an approving look.

"Are you _mad_?" One of the blonde's lackeys gasped. "This is Bann Vaughan, the Arl of Denerim's Son."

"What?" Shianni gasped under her breath. "Oh, Maker."

Kallain took a deep breath. "Okay, look. Things got out of hand. Take him home to sober up and tend to that lump on his head. We won't tell anyone he got KO'd by an elven woman if you don't."

The other man gritted his teeth. "You'll pay for this, elven scum."

"The real scum here is people like them." Kallain muttered.

"I really skewed up, didn't I?" Shianni said as the men left.

Kallain grinned. "I wouldn't worry. Do you really think he would want anyone knowing he got taken down by an elven woman? Speaking of which." She snickered. "That was hilarious!"

"_You_ are going to get us killed one of these days." Soris muttered.

"Well, that was exciting," said a male voice.

The three looked to see two elves they'd never seen before. One was a male, with blond hair and blue eyes. The other, also blond, had brown eyes.

"Ah, Valora, hello." Soris called to the woman.

"Huh? Valora? Then…" she looked at the male next to her. "You must be… Nelaros?"

"Yes that's me." Nelaros said awkwardly.

Shianni smiled. "See you four at the ceremony!"

'Nooooooooo. Don't leave us herrrrrrrrrrrrrre!' Kallain screamed in her mind. An awkward silence filled the air until Nelaros broke it.

"So… Are you just as nervous as I am about this whole thing?" he asked Kallain.

Kallain sighed. "You want total honesty? I feel as if my stomach is going to fall out and my heart is going to crash out of my chest."

"Total honesty. I admire that in a woman." Nelaros smiled. "I will spend every waking moment learning how to make you happy." Kallain was touched, to say the least.

"Come on cousin. We should let them get ready." Soris muttered.

"We'll be waiting for you at the altar." Valora smiled, and then added teasingly. "Don't be late."

"Or we'll come find you." Neleros added.

"Can I get that in writing?" Kallain said as they left.

As they left Soris pocked Kallain's arm. "Don't look now, but we have another problem."

Kallain groaned in annoyance. "What now?"

"It's another human." Soris said pointing to a tall man standing by the alienage tree. His skin was dark and he had black hair and a bared. He was wearing armour and had two swards strapped to his back. "It could be one of Vaughan's or just a random trouble maker. Either way we need to move him on before someone does something stupid."

Kallain nodded and looked at the man. He was taller than Vaughan, he was also armed, a confrontation could be disastrous. They needed to handle this carefully. They walked over to the man. He seemed to notes them coming and smiled at them.

"Greetings, young one." He greeted with a polite bow. "I understand congratulations are in order for your upcoming marriage."

Kallain was taken completely off guard by the human's polite and respectful attitude. "Thankyou… However, I'm afraid that I need to ask you to leave. We don't want any unpleasantness."

The man seemed both surprised and amused at this. "I'm sorry, but, what 'unpleasantness' are you referring to?"

Kallain scratched at her temple. "How do I put it… The Alienage isn't the safest place for humans in Denerim."

The man continued to smile. "I'm sorry. But, I have no intention of leaving."

Kallain took a breath to calm her. "Okay, how's about a compromise?"

The man chuckled. "She keeps her composure even when facing an armed and unknown person. A true gift, wouldn't you say, Valendrian?"

Kallain blinked as the elder of their Alienage came up from behind her and stood next to the man with a smile.

"I would say it would be an even greater gift of those that know how to stay their blades." The old elf smiled again. "It is good to see you again Duncan."

"You know this man, Elder?" Kallain asked in surprise.

"Yes. Duncan often comes to the alienage, looking for recruits for the Gray Wardens." Valendrian explained.

"The… what now?" Kallain had never heard of Gary Wardens before.

"The Grey Wardens are an order of warriors that fight again the darkspawn. It is their sworn duty to protect us. Why are you here Duncan?" He asked the man.

Duncan sighed. "The worst has come. The Darkspawn are gathering in the south, and are preparing for an attack. If something is not done quick, there will be a Blight."

"Now Duncan, let's not worry these two. This is a happy day for them."

Duncan smiled. "I understand my issue can wait. Right now these two have a very happy occasion to attend to."

He turned to Soris and Kallain. "Soris, Kallain, I would like for Duncan to be treated as my guest." Soris and Kallain nodded with a smile. "And for Marker's sake, take your places, both of you. The ceremony will be starting soon."

Kallain and Soris bid Duncan and Valendrian farewell. They walked up to the stand and climbed up to stand beside their spouses to be. 'If this is a dream,' Kallain thought as she looked at Neleros. 'Then now would be a good time to let me know if it's a good dream or a nightmare.'

"You came." Valora smiled and Soris.

"Of course. With Neleros' Blushing Bride in tow." Soris said teasingly, gesturing at Kallain.

Neleros looked at her and smiled. "You look radiant."

Kallain couldn't help the small smile that came to her face. Mother Boann of the nearby Chantry began the ceremony. However, the mother had only gotten two lines in when Kallain spotted a mass of humans in armour behind her, one of whom was someone she had hoped to never see again. Bann Vaughan. The man walked up onto the alter. 'Nightmare.' Kallain confirmed in her mind. 'Definitely nightmare.'

"My lord," Mother Boann said uncertainly. "This is... an unexpected surprise."

"Please excuse me Mother, but…" He said in a tone that said he didn't care what she said. "I'm… having a party, and we're frightfully short of female guests."

Mother Boann glared at the horty noble in disgust. "My Lord, this is a wedding!"

Vaughan snorted. "Ha. If you want to dress up your little pets and play tea party, that's your business, but don't pretend that this in an actual wedding." He turned back to the elves gathered on the altar. "Now we'll take the two pretty little bride's maids the cute little bride in the tight dress and… Where's the bitch that bottled me?"

"Here she is Vaughan." One of the lackeys from before called grabbing Shianni by the arm.

"Let go of ne you stuffed son of a..." Shianni snapped.

Kallain growled, but stoped as Neleros stepped in front of her protectively.

"Don't worry," He whispered. "I won't let them take you."

Kallain was touched and slightly offended at the gesture. "I won't let them take Shianni." She told him. He gave her an understanding look.

It was then that Vaughan spotted them. He grinned sickly. "Look here gentlemen. Look at the lovely little bride."

Kallain glared at him with a dark look. "If you ever plan on having children in the future," She growled. "You better let my cousin and friends go."

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy taming this one." Vaughan grinned. "It's going to quite a party."

Kallain was taken off guard as the other lackey of Vaughan's came in from her blind spot and punched her in the temple. The last thing she saw as she went down, was Neleros punching the other man back. Then in all went black.

###

The first thing Kallain heard as she came to was Nola repeating the same prayer. Her head throbbed and her back was freezing from laying on the hard stone floor. She heard Shianni growl in annoyance and tell Nola to put a sock in it. She sat up slowly and held her head at the room spun a little. She heard the other women's sighs of relief.

"Thank the Maker you've come to." Shianni sighed. "Are you alright?"

"Okay. Ouch!" Kallain hissed as her head throbbed again. "That Bastard is dead meat, next time I see him."

Shianni smiled. "Headache, huh?" The other's looked at her and she explained. "Kals makes blind threats when she's in pain, the type of threat changes depending on what hurts." She turned back to Kallain. "You usually dodge better that that. This is gonna sting for a bit."

Kallain massaged her aching temple as the others explained where they were. They were in the storage room of the Denerim Keep's kitchen. Vaughan had had his men lock then in there to wait for when the pig was ready for them. As they finished the explanation Nola started up her prayers again.

Shianni groaned. "Great, how this again."

Kallain wondered off to the closest door. One of the tricks her mother had taught her was lock picking. She hissed as she examined the lock on the door, it was a descent lock. She could have unlocked it if she had had her lock picks, but she'd left them in her room because she wouldn't have been able to hide them in her dress. 'The one day I don't have my lock picks.' Kallain thought, groaning at the irony. She turned and went back to the others. When Shianni gave her a hopeful look she shook her head.

"Look," Shioki said to them. "We'll... do what they want, go home and try to forget this... nightmare, ever happened."

"She's right," Valora agreed. "It'll be worse if we resist."

"It'll be worse if we don't." Shianni interjected.

It was then that the door opened, and in came six armed guards. Kallain glared at them preparing to attack if they came near them. The middle one grinned at them.

"Hello Whores. We're your escorts to lord Vaughan little party."

Kallain was surprised as Nola stood up abruptly and ran to stand in front of the rest of them.

"Stay away from us!" She shouted at them.

Without a single change in expiration the middle guard rose his sword and sliced Nola's throat cleanly. Kallain watched helplessly as Nola went down, blood flowing out of her throat like a fountain. Nola had always been the oldest of them, but this was the first time she had stood up for them like that. Unfortunately it was also her last. Shioki knelt down to her and gripped her hand as the last of Nola's life bled out of her.

"You... Killed her..." Shioki said in shock.

The guard smirked. "Guess that's what happens when you try teaching whores some respect." He turned to the others. "You two, grab the red head and the other one, we'll get the pretty little thing in the corner. You two take the pretty bride. Be careful, Vaughan says she's a scraper."

Kallain tisked as Shianni and the others were dragged away. Then glared at the last two guards. One grinned.

"Don't worry we'll be perfect gentlemen."

"Try it! See what parts you lose first!" Kallain snapped.

The other one laughed. "Captain was right. She's a scrapper."

"Uh, Hello? Anyone home?"

The two guards turned to see an elvan men standing in the door way. It was Soris, with a long sword in hand. Soris tossed the sword to Kallain, who caught it neatly by the handle. They made quick work of the two guards.

"Are you alright?" Soris asked her.

"I'm fine. Mild headache, but that's going down. Where, in the Maker's name, did you get a sword?"

"Duncan gave one to Neleros and me, along with a crossbow."

"Neleros is here?" Kallain said.

"Yeah, he's waiting for us at the end of the hall."

'Wow.' Kallain thought. 'Maybe I need to rethink my opinion of him.' After Kallain had 'borrowed' a knife one of the guards had been carrying, they left the room and went into the kitchen. They were spotted by the cook, who yelled at them a bit before the elvan servant broke his neck with a swift punch.

"You have no idea how long that shem's had it coming." He said.

Kallain nodded. "You see a group of elvan maidens come through there?"

"Yeah. The soldiers were taking them to Lord Vaughan's quarters. You better hurry if you want to save them. Now if you excuse me, I'm getting out of here, before things get messy."

After poisoning the off duty guards in the dining room, they ran as fast as they could to the other end of the hall, where Neleros, would be waiting for them. Kallain had only just opened the door when she saw a truly horrible sight. Neleros, or rather his body, was on the cobble stoned floor, laying in a puddle of his own blood. A deep cut ran from the centre of his forehead, over his right eye and to his chest. The culprits of this deed were standing around him laughing at his body. The man Kallain recognised as the captain from before spotted them by the door.

"See gents, what did I tell you. Elves run in packs, likes rodents." He said.

"You...You KILLED Neleros!" Kallain screamed at them.

"He squealed like a stuck pig when he died." The captain laughed.

Well that was it for Kallain, she charged. Using the borrowed sword and the new dagger, she sliced the first guard smoothly through the stomach and turned to the captain. While she was occupied with the captain the other guard tried to sneak up on her. Soris shot him with the head with a bolt from the crossbow. Kallain shaped her arms in an X and sliced the Men's head from his shoulders. That done both Soris and Kallain went to Neleros' side. Kallain clenched her fists.

"This is all my fault."

"No it's not Cousin." Soris said. "Neleros was doing what was right." He put his hand in Neleros' right pocket and pulled out a beautiful gold wedding band. "Neleros showed this to me on the way here he would have wanted you to have it. He made this to give to you today at your wedding, the writing inside the band says 'Your happiness, is my happiness. Seeing your smile will be my life's joy'. "

He handed the ring to Kallain, who took it gingerly, then put it on her finger. Kallain chanced one last glance at Neleros before they left. 'I'm sorry Neleros.' She thought, then they were off. They had to reach the others. Before it was too late.

###

They finally came to Vaughan's chambers. This was where the others were. Kallain was just about all out of patience. If Vaughan had hurt so much as a hair on any of them, he was going to wish he was died by the time she was through with him. She kicked the door open with her foot.

"I would have knocked. But I'm in a bad mood and my patience for you lot is nearing the size of a pin hole." Kallain growled as she strode into the room. Her eyes immediately found Shianni on the floor. Her clothes were torn and she was covered in bruises. She growled at the men. "You better start praying to the Maker, because you're going to need a miracle if you plan on living to see tomorrow."

"Now, now. Let's not be hasty." Vaughan said slightly nervous. "Think about where you are. If we fight here, yes you may actually kill us. But think of the repercussions on your precious people in the Alienage."

Kallain glared at him. "What are you babbling about?"

"Think carefully for a moment. My father won't let it go if you kill me. By the day after he comes back, your entire Alienage will have been burnt to the ground, along with everyone there. Is that what you want?"

Kallain tisked. "Quit beating around the bush. You got something to say, spit it out!"

"I have a proposal. 40 sovereigns, take it and get out of Denerim by tonight."

Kallain glared at him. "The women?"

"The women will go home tomorrow, slightly worse for wear. Your answer?"

"You want my answer? Here's my answer. Just for so much as suggesting such an appalling thing, I'm gonna tear your heart out and cut your dick off and shove both of them down your throat!" Kallain screamed at she charged at them.

Let it never be said that Kallain wasn't a women of her word. Not only did she cut Vaughan's nethers off and force feed them to him, before stabbing him in the heart, but she did the same to his Lackeys. They were just as guilty for this as him. She pulled her sword out of the last shem's chest and spat at it, as Soris came up next to her.

"I hope this doesn't come back to bite us in the butts later, though I can't say that I'm sad he's dead." He turned to Kallain. "I'm going to look in the back room for the others. Shianni needs you."

Kallain walked over and knelt next to Shianni. As she did, she noticed that Shianni was holding her lower stomach, and she felt the urge to kill the bastard shem all over again. Shianni was trembling, she really didn't look good.

"Please, don't leave me alone…" Shianni whimpered. "Please… Take me home…"

Kallain held Shianni's hand gently. "Yeah, let's go home, Shianni."

"So much blood… I can't stand to look at it… It's everywhere… You killed them didn't you? You killed them all?" Kallain nodded. "Good… Good…"

Soris came back with the others and suggested that they vacate the keep, in fact of immediately. Kallain pulled Shianni up onto her feet, putting one arm over her shoulders to help keep her up. They left as quickly as they could.

###

Kallain slowly opened her eyes to someone shacking her gently.

"Awake up _mi amore._" A familiar male voice said.

"Huh? Zevran?" Kallain said groggily. "What is it?"

Zevran smiled gently at her. "You were tossing and turning in your sleep, _Dormigliona_. Were you having a bad dream?"

"Sort of," Kallain said sitting up. "It was the day Duncan conscripted me."

Zevran tenderly ran a hand through his beloved's hair. It had been two years since the end of the Blight and the two of them had been married for one of those two. He gently kissed the shining gold earring that hung from Kallain's ear. The day he gave that to her, was the day that she had stopped wearing the wedding ring Neleros had made. That wasn't to say she didn't still have it, she kept it in an engraved box on the book shelf. It was simply a sign that her heart was finally healing. After Zevran had heard what had happened to Kallain and her friends before she was conscripted, he had wanted to find the former lord's soul in the Vaid and kill it again. Kallain curled up in Zevran's arms. She always felt so save with him. Slowly she began to drift off to sleep. As she did, her eyes fell on the box that held Neleros' old wedding ring. 'Hey, Neleros…' She thought tiredly. 'Did you send Zevran to me? Because, if so… I want to say "Thank you". This is the best farewell gift ever.' With that Kallain fell into a peaceful sleep, with Zevran not far behind. Over by the ring box a small wisp formed and shaped into the form of a young Elvan male. The man smiled at the two happy elves sleeping peacefuly and vanished. Satisfied that his promise had been kapt.


End file.
